They were still mentioned in the tyre guide for Kaohsiung in 2025, and when the 2026 edition was released earlier in Jul, they were gone. Nevertheless Duck Zhen is a reverent eatery serving the locals for over 65 years, it shouldn’t be too far off.
Duck Zhen is located in Yancheng district near Pier 2, and is a good spot for lunch if you are in the vicinity. It has been recommended in Michelin Guide and got the Bib Gourmand in 2022. The original store was located on Xinle Street. It started as a small shop without even a signboard, and its business grew more and more prosperous through word of mouth. Especially when it was still in the old store, it was always packed with customers, filling the arcades of the nearby shops. Sometimes, there were so many people that tables and chairs were even stretched onto the street. They moved to this new location in 2016 after the two brothers/owners split up.
Duck Zhen now takes up two retail space in this new location in Wufu 4th Road, but still has barely enough room to seat the hordes of diners lining up during lunchtime. But nobody hordes the seats and leaves as soon as they finish eating. The staff was very quick in turning over the tables.
After opening its doors over 60 years ago, the menu has not changed a bit. They only have duck and everything associated with the duck, including its offals (下水). For carb lovers, you can choose to add glass noodles (冬粉) or rice with the duck order. And if you are alone and could not finish a full portion of duck, you can choose the duck rice (鴨肉飯), which is the braised minced pork rice (肉燥飯) with duck added.
The SOP at Duck Zhen is that you don’t fill out a form like the rest of the eateries in Taiwan. Instead, you queue up first, whether you’re dining in or taking out. You queue up in the same line to order from the owner. Once the previous customer has ordered, the staff starts cooking. The next customer only starts ordering after the previous customer has almost finished. That’s why the queue moves so slowly. I recommend that you order everything all at once and add-on orders meant that you start the process all over again.
Unlike most of the other duck eateries, they served braised duck that is similar to the Teochew braised duck. I ordered a 1/4 of the whole duck to share, and asked for the lower portion (thigh and drumstick) as I prefer dark meat over breast meat, although many out there prefer duck breast as the lower portion of the duck is quite boney.
Princess didn’t want any rice and requested for glass noodles (colloquially known as tunghoon and is made from mung bean flour instead of wheat). The soup that it came in was peppery and had a sweetness that can only come from MSG 🙂
The meat was delicious, very tender and moist, but the highlight was the offals. The duck intestines was crunchy and the heart and liver were cooked to the right doneness. As they were all boiled without any sauce, you have to dip them with condiments provided if you want more robust flavours.
They offer two types of sauce for dipping the duck and offals with, a regular chilli sauce and a special soy sauce paste (醬油膏). I didn’t like either as they were quite sweet. This was the last day we were in Kaohsiung and after spending a week here, we realised that the locals have a tendency for sweeter things like the Shanghainese.
I ordered a braised minced pork rice that is commonly found in Taiwan. Their version was alright, with a strong fried shallot taste, but strangely sweet like everything else in Kaohsiung. The blanched vegetable used kangkong, and drizzled with duck oil for flavour.
The staff prepares dishes based on memory, and while not filling out forms is a unique feature, it often results in some dishes being missed. However, if a dish is missed, simply reminding the owner will ensure it’s replaced immediately. Payment is made after the food is served, so there’s no extra charge even if a dish is missed. You can check their Facebook page for opening days as they do close intermittently on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Duck Zhen 鴨肉珍（總店）
No. 258, Wufu 4th Rd, Jiaoren Village, Yancheng District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 803
高雄市鹽埕區五福四路258號
Tel : +886 7 521 5018
Visited Jul 2026
Michelin Kaohsiung Guide Bib Gourmand 2022
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